Airport TRAX Line Opens This Weekend

The new TRAX line that transports riders to and from Salt Lake International Airport is scheduled to open this Sunday. Reporters were invited to ride the train this morning.

Imagine flying into Salt Lake City for the first time, exiting the terminal, boarding a train and taking in a view of the Wasatch and Oquirrh Mountains at 60 miles per hour. Steve Meyer, Chief Capital Development Officer for Utah Transit Authority says that’s a great way to enter the community.

“It really makes a statement and creates some excitement in that north temple corridor that we think is going to generate a lot of new development, that’s dependent on transit and can use that and can play off that investment that we’ve made in the corridor," Meyer says.

The Airport TRAX line took about four years to complete; and cost roughly $235 million. Salt Lake and Utah County voters approved a quarter cent sales tax hike in 2006 to fund the project.

Officials say it’s under budget and ahead of schedule.

UTA Spokesman Remi Barron says the construction has been hard on businesses along North Temple, but he says the final product will be a boon for their bottom lines.

“And then obviously the benefit to catching a flight is incredible because for $2.50, you can take a train from the airport all the way to Draper or wherever you need to go," Barron says.

The ride from Arena TRAX Station to the airport takes about 10 minutes. It makes five stops along the North Temple business district.

This Saturday, the public can ride between Arena Station and the Airport Station from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. UTA officials are asking for donations of canned food in lieu of charging a fare.

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Utah Transit Authority is set for the grand opening of the Salt Lake Regional Airport TRAX line next month, but before riders can climb aboard law enforcement and emergency management personnel are performing some exercises to prepare for a crisis situation.